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Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Ferfal, Thanks so much for your books and blog. They are very helpful for us. We've been implementing what we've learned. Your article about having two passports http://ferfal.blogspot.com/2015/04/whats-best-passport-and-why-should-you.html strikes
me as good common sense. My wife was born in Canada and is now a
naturalized American citizen. Most of her relatives continue to live in
Canada, despite the election last week, making Canada our #1
international bug-out prospect. We're retired and don't plan to travel
to exotic or dangerous locales so dangers and benefits during travel are
secondary for us. One of her Canadian cousins is a banker; another is a
bishop. Last year, the banker cousin said we could open a Canadian bank
account. After some thought and research, she now resists seeking a
Canadian passport because she's concerned that seeking a Canadian
passport might cause some people, somewhere, in the American government
to hold this against us and cause damage to us later. I agree with her
that there are likely some people out there like that but we have no
idea how many. I've been active politically albeit at a low level. I've
published some articles in print and on the internet that I'm sure are
stored somewhere in government archives. Given your experience and
research, what do you think about this concern? What would be your
estimate of the benefit/risk ratio of her seeking a Canadian passport?
If she does apply, would there be any benefit or disadvantage in
applying under her maiden, pre-marriage name? One of our flags is the "just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me" flag. -Bob

. Hello Bob, thank you for your email and your kind words. I’m glad you find my work useful.
I would get the Canadian passport. The risk/benefit ratio is clear to
me. There’s thousands of good, law abiding Americans with dual
citizenship going about their business every day and they are not any
less American for it. Also, there’s little chance Canadian citizenship
will raise any flags. Maybe dual citizenship with some of the more
volatile countries in Middle East and such would be more suspicious. As
for the benefits you already mentioned opening an account in Canada,
that’s on its own a big asset for financial preparedness, and that’s
just the tip of the iceberg when you start exploring the possibilities a
second passport offers. “But Ferfal, you and your nonsense.
Starting fires with chopsticks, hunting bears with arrows made of Coke
glass bottles. That’s what survivalism is all about!” Maybe in Reality TV shows it is, but not in the actual harsh world out there.
The world is changing around us in ways few people fully understand.
From a practical, modern survival perspective, few things are as
valuable and as important as a second passport during certain worst case
scenarios. I’ve mentioned many times how a gun, passport and money are
the three main items to have. If forced to get rid of one I’d get rid of
the gun first. With a passport and enough money I can get another gun
anyway. Now if forced to drop a second item, I’d rather not have money
than lose my European citizenship. Think of it this way: The
cheapest passport in some God forsaken island costs about $250.000. An
actually good passport that grants you EU citizenship will cost no less
than $1.57 million a pop. That’s per passport, so for the average family
of fours its over 6 million bucks! And trust me, there’s people out
there that happily pay for it. Now the question is, why? For the very
wealthy person, it of course has clear benefits both for living in
Europe but also investing as citizens. But what about the average Joe?
Average Joe can also make great use of a EU passport. I’m one myself and
my citizenship is the last thing I’d give up. “But Ferfal, Europe? No American in his right mind would move there…”
First, yes, many have. Second, to that I just say you never know. You
never know if one day relocating to Europe, or Canada would be in your
best interest. The world can change so much in just a few years. There’s
just no telling what your personal situation will be like ten years
from now, let alone what the world will be like. There’s people that
have received life-saving medical treatment for free which otherwise
they simply couldn’t afford, thanks to the EU. There’s millions that
move all over Europe for employment. Right now with the refugee crisis,
hundreds of thousands are looking for a country to take them in. For
those that already had citizenship, their only concern would have been
getting there before things fell apart too bad. If passports are
literally worth millions of dollars, its just a crime not to get yours
if possible. I’ll say it again: You just never now. You don’t know if
you want/have to emigrate one day, or if maybe your children or
grandchildren will. (That would be my case, it was my grandfather that
got me my passport) You don’t know if they may want to study abroad, or
get a degree in a world class university for a fraction of what it costs
back in U.S. If you have Irish, Spanish, Italian or any other
ancestry, its well worth looking into. These things take time, years,
that’s why few people bother but trust me one day you (or your
grandchildren) will thank you for it. FerFALFernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse”and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

2 comments:

Anonymous
said...

As a general rule, I totally agree with the Get Moar Passports doctrine, and I think you've spelled out pretty clearly how valuable it can be.

There is one possible complication; the USA is rather grabby when it comes to taxes. If the writers situation was reversed, and they lived in Canada with the option of getting a US passport/citizenship, this could lead to tax complications, including the death tax, even while not residing in the USA. Nearly all other countries only expect their pound of flesh while you're primarily residing within them, though, so for pretty well all other scenarios this downside doesn't apply.

I don't understand the concern. I am a dual citizen of Canada and the US, and I have no concern about that being held against me. What, exactly, ARE the concerns? The writer never spells it out. I, too, write a lot and am politically active... and hold an extremely minor elected post in the US.... but I don't worry about that at all. I was really confused as to th e "whys" behind this concern. If you aren't advocating violence (which I am deeply against anyway), then, at least as it stands now, why the concern? I realize maybe tomorrow it could get worse, of course

Trudeau will continue the destruction of Canada, which is one downside. However, if we relocate to Canada, I strongly recommend Nova Scotia. The Gulf Stream keeps it warmer, Halifax has all the amenities of a large city, but is off the map of terrorists, has two universities, is very fertile in many areas, it outside the radius of an EMP attack (at least one over Kansas) etc. We own property in Cape Breton, and if it did come down to a Mad Max scenario, people are nut cases are not going to be marching NORTHWARD from LA or NY to Nova Scotia. Not to say there wouldn't be some local nutcases, of course.

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Leatherman Charge Ti

Fenix Lights

I love this light. Runs on a single AAA and is capable of big boy lumen output (80 lumens) in a keychain package. Also has low and mid mode for longer runtime.
Fenix PD20
Single CR123 cell. 6 modes including 180 lumen turbo mode.
General Mode: 9 lumens (35hrs) -> 47 lumens (6.5hrs) -> 94 lumens (2.6hrs) -> SOS
Turbo Mode: 180 lumens (1hrs) -> Strobe
15 days of survival use (2 continuous hours per day on the lowest setting)

Thanks for the Positive Reviews!

Energency gadget... on steroids.

Asus Eee 1005HA

Basic Door/Window Alarm

Emergency gadget

Both tool and weapon, just the right size

Straight edge makes it easier to sharpen, + tougher tip

Gorilla Tape

By all accounts and reviews I’ve read so far, it truly is “The toughest Tape on the Planet”

Transportation

I talked about these some time ago in an article, remember someone asked where to get one.
"Alternative Transportation"
Just found one reasonably priced and with excellent reviews in Amazon.

Best Folder

Emergency blankets. I Have several of these around.

Katadyn water filter

for the kits

and food ...

Got to have water: Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel

Moleskine, the ultimate little black cover notebook :)

Fenix L0D-CE. Perfect keychain light. 80 Lumens in a single AAA

Nice combo. The Soldier is an excellent product.

Sabre Red OC spray

Made in USA
This is the brand I use and always have one in my bag and car. ( same brand used by NYPD)
My wife keeps one in her purse too.
Sabre Red Tear Gas
Sabre Red for ladies
You guys have the coolest stuff up there.:)

Jack Bauer’s bag.:) I’d like to get one of these and try it out.

Fox OC Spray

Don’t have this one but it’s the hottest OC spray out there.
Someone once called it “bottled lava”
Pick your poison people, but do carry OC
1) Even if you carry a gun
2) SPECIALLY if you don’t carry a gun

Firesteel

Classic, and one of the few things I’d call a “must have” I own two of these.